75 Years Of Age, Difficulty To Have Intercourse, Penetration Is Painful. Suggest?
e-mail: YYYY@YYYY
Patience, dilators and estrogen...
Detailed Answer:
At age 75, you have virtually no estrogen in your system. This is normal. One of the problems is that you then develop "atrophy" of the vagina and narrowing like you describe. This can be addressed, but best done with an OB/GYN:
1. You will definitely need dilators that can be used (over the course of months) to slowly increase the caliber of the vagina
2. You need vaginal estrogen - this will make the vaginal 'skin' more healthy and easier to dilate without the bleeding
3. With the dilators and ANY attempts at intercourse, you need lubrication - you can try a product called ASTROGLIDE. This will help.
This is something that you can overcome, and I am impressed by your courage to address this. Good luck!
thank you for being impressed by me asking, this is so embarrassing, everyone is normal except me? I would prefer to do this with your recommendation on my own,
I keep asking why me>
Many thanks, you appear to be a very gentle kind doctor,
Sincerely XXXXXXX
You can buy over the counter...
Detailed Answer:
Here is one link to what I am talking about:
WWW.WWWW.WW
Your doctor can also write you a prescription for these and they would likely be covered by your insurance. I would imagine that they would come with instructions, but in general it involves SLOWLY over the course of weeks dilation and stretching of the vaginal opening. Combining these with a lubricant such as Astroglide, as well as the daily use of a longer-acting lubricant (called Replens) is the way to go.
The 'best care' would be to do this in conjuction with the care of an OB/GYN, but a motivated patient could do this on their own I imagine.
This is a normal problem, do not be embarassed. It is also normal for women to be sexually active at your age, but the limiting factor is often vaginal atrophy and associated pain with intercourse itself. You should be able to get to the point where things are more 'normal', but this might take a few months.
I hope that this helps!
If other questions come to mind will contact, but I do sincerely thank you for your advice and assistance. XXXXXXX
You are very welcome!
Detailed Answer: XXXXXXX
You are going to do great. If you have future questions, please just start off with "This is for Dr. Raichle" and I will be happy to help.
Thank you.